The present invention relates to a safety system designed to eliminate fallout of liquids and as a function of the fluctuations in the flow to be flared or disposed of, to insure good combustion or good dispersion in order to shorten the flame and diminish the heat radiation and noise intensity received in the installations, during the flaring or dispersion of gases in the production, processing and transportation of hydrocarbons, especially off-shore.
Generally speaking, it is known that the evacuation of liquids, particularly in the form of drops, through the flare tip, as a result, for example, of a liquid congestion of installations upstream, or owing to rapid depressurization of volumes of liquids containing dissolved gases, constitutes a serious danger in installations for the production, processing and transportation of hydrocarbons, and in particular in fixed or floating installations situated off-shore.
As a matter of fact, as they leave the flare tip, the condensates or the oil, issuing from the gas or entrained by the latter, are ignited and fall back in flames on the installation or in the immediate proximity to it, thereby endangering the life of all personnel and the entire installation.
This danger is even greater in off-shore installations since the personnel run the risk of being trapped on the burning platform or floating supports, and furthermore the condensates or oil floating on the water can form a sheet of fire preventing any possibility of evacuation.
Moreover, in installations producing, processing and transporting hydrocarbons, of the gaseous type in particular, it is sometimes necessary, for operational or safety reasons, to vent large quantities of gas in a very short time. The combustion of fluctuating, and sometimes very substantial gas flows leads to the relegation of the flare far from the installations in order not to generate levels of temperature and noise in the latter that are intolerable for the personnel and the equipment. Unfortunately in the case of offshore locations, when the water becomes rather deep, this solution only solves the problem locally at a cost that increases rapidly with the depth of the water. When the water is very deep, the above arrangement becomes problematical and its cost prohibitive. Because this arrangement always creates a substantial interference to navigation, which is always tricky in the vicinity of the installation.